Tire carrier support



Aug. 14, 1951 D R, BALLARD 2,563,810

TIRE CARRIER SUPPORT Filed March 25, 1949 INVENTOR. EAN/ 2 P. 13H/.AARD

Patented Aurg. 14, 19.51

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE TIRE CARRIER SUPPORT Dana R. Ballard,Madera, Calif. AApplication March 25, 1949,7Serial No. 83,429

Z Claims.- (Cl. 224-42.12)

This invention relates to attachments for truck and pick-up carriers,and particularly to a manually-operated tire carrier attachment.

The main object of my invention is to provide a truck or pick-up carrierwith quickly and convenientlyoperated means for releasing a spare tiretherefrom at will.

Another object is to have a tire carrier attachment of the characterindicated provided with a manually-operated lever serving to dispose thetire involved in releasing position ready for removal from the carrier.

A further object is to have such a tire carrier attachment in which themanually-operated lever forms part of a tire-suspension system andwhich, upon being operated, lowers the tire to be removed from a normalraised position to a low position in which the carrier may be opened andthe tire removed.

' It is also an object to have an attachment `for a tire carrier of thistype which requires a minimum of reconstruction of standard tirelcarrierequipment, and thus is simple to install and yet effective in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in furtherdetail as the specication proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of this invention for aproper appreciation of the 'salient features thereof, the invention isillustrated on the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a manually-operated attachment for a tirecarrier made according to the invention and embodying the same in `apractical form, the attachment being shown in normally-locked positionwith the carrier supporting a spare tire beneath the rear of a truckyindicated in broken lines;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation of the left ,end of the tire carrierattachment of Figure 1 on a larger scale and in released position;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the operating parts of Figure 2, as seenfrom the right, on line 3+3 of the latter iigure;

Figure 4 is another side elevation as seen on line I-d in Figure l, buton a larger scale; .Figure 5 is another enlarged elevation which isthereverse of that seen in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bifurcated end of` atire-supporting crossbar, also shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

In the various views the same reference nulmerals indicate the same orlike parts.

To all who are familiar with trucks and pickups, it is well known thatspare tires and wheels for the trucks involved are bulky and heavy, andthat standard equipment for carrying such spare tires and wheels issufficiently rugged to withstand the jars and shocks o f the road toprevent loss of the tire or wheel carried as a spare. However, suchequipment is not quickly or easily unlocked in order to release thespare but re quires time and hard work to effect a complete release ofthe spare tire or wheel for replacing the tire that has blown or becomeseriously damaged. This is true, despite the fact that in many placesand on many occasions, it may be required that a tire should be replacedquickly, as for example, on bridges and intunnels, special traiiic lanesand the like, so that'obviously a pressing need for such a convenienttire carrier is obvious. I am, of course, aware that various structureshave been proposed, but as yet nothing appears to have ,been generallyadopted for this purpose.

Upon considering this problem, it has occurred to me that certainradical changes can be made in standard equipment to completely alterthe operation thereof for convenient release of a spare, and as a resultI have succeeded in producing a quickly-operated tire carrier, as willnow be more fully described as involving a manual attachment therefor.

Hence, referring again to the drawing, beneath the rear end of a truck,generally indicated at l, are bolted or secured a pair of oppositechannels 8 and 9 spaced apart and having upon their outer sides twopairs of opposltely-outwardly-extend ing ears or pivot lugs Ill and IIthrough which a pair of pivot pins I2 and laextend tranversely inparallel horizontal directions. Between the ears or lugs l 0 is locatedthe upper eye portion or end I 4 of an eye bolt I5 which is threadedalong the shank IE thereof, this shank being of limited length. Betweenthe other ears or lugs Il is located the upper end or eye portion Il' ofa conventional eye bolt I8 which is relatively long in contrast with thethreaded shank I 5 of the other eye bolt, and is threaded at the lowerend I9 and provided with a nut 2D supporting one end 2| of a more orless conventional sparesupporting cross-bar 22 which at the other end 23is bifurcated by an end slot 24. The cross bar 22 is adapted to supportaspare 25 in substantially horizontal position by its hub 26 whenlocated in normal horizontal supporting position.

Referring now more specifically to the attachn ment embodying theinvention, upon threaded shank i6 of eye bolt I5 is screwed an upperin'- 3 ternally-threaded boss 2i of a link 28 which is substantiallyfiat below the upper boss or hub 21. Upon the lower end of link 2S ispivoted a man ual lever 29 by means of a pivot pin 39 which extendsthrough two coextensive tongues 3| forming the ends of lever 29. Thementioned tongues 3| are spaced a sufficient distance apart to receivethe flat portion of link 23 between them and allow lever 29 to swivel onpivot pin 30. The other end `oi lever 2Q is formed into an oiset handle.3s by which to operate the lever.y To the extreme ends of flat tongues3i are pivoted the upper ends of the two limbs 32 of a U- shaped yoke 33by means of a pair of pivot pins 34, 34. At the inner end the handle 39is either cut away or slotted at 35 to provide clearance for link 23 andallow the handle to be raised into its highest position shown Figure 2,when swinging the handle and lever 2S about pivot pin 3G.

At the lower end, yoke 33 terminates in an internally-threaded hub intoAwhich extends rigidly an upwardlyrested bolt or screw 3l having vthehead thereof directed downward 'in such vfashion as to be spaced a shortdistance below the hub lio. The purpose of bolt and its downYwardlyspaced head 313 is to allow the bolt shank to enter the slot 24or the biiurcated end 23 upon cross-bar 22 with head i8 disposed beneaththe cross-bar end 23 in position to support the same.

It is, of course, understood that slot 2d is ci just sufficient width to'allow bolt??? to slide into the same while preventin'gthe head 33 ofthe bolt from passing upwardly through the slot.

Thus far described, the device is shown in the raised and lockedposition of Figures'l, a and 5 and serves to support the biiurcated end23 of cross-bar 22 in raised positionwherein the cross bar supports thespare 25 in its normal storage position when the intermedia-tely-locatedpivot .pin 3B extending through tongues Si of lever is disposed belowpivots 3i in such fashion that the Vtongues 3i extend upwardly frompivot pin 3G toward the mentioned pivots 34, with handle 39 dependingdownwardly. If the mentioned handle is swung outwardly away' from spareL and from yoke 33, and then upwardly to the posi tion illustrated inFigures' and 3, tongues'Si will be partly inverted so that pivot pin 39is brought up to a higher level than pivots 3./5 which thereby ,lowersyoke 33 with its arms 32 and brings down the end 23 of cross-bar into alowered inclined position, best seen in Figure this posin tion, it is arelatively simplel matter to manually swing yoke clockwise toward theleft so that head 3B and bolt 37 swing clear of bifurcated end 23 of thecross-bar and slot 24 therein, allowing the cross-bar to drop to theground ill beneath the truck, when the spare 25 is easily accessible to`be immediately dislodged from the cross-bar if the dropping of thelatter has not already caused the spare to roll ofi and lie upon theground. When the damaged tire or wheel which the spare replaces is to bedeposited on the cross-bar 22,

this is also easily performed by merely rolling the spare to thecross-bar and then allowing it to tip over into inclined position uponthe crossbar, when end 23 of said cross-bar may be raised sufficientlyby a hand or by any means conveniently accessible to a level allowingbolt 3l to be slid into slot 2li in biiurcated end 23 with head 3%immediately' beneath the biiurcated end. Thereafter, by manuallyswinging handle 39 downwardly in counter-clockwise direction, lever `29will be sufficiently inverted to raise yoke 33 .and superpose the arms32 thereof upon the tongues 3| of lever 29 with the tongues and the armssubstantially coextensive and handle 39 depending directly downward, asbest seen in Figure 1. As pivots 34 are then directly above pivot 30,the attained position is substantially balanced so that there is noactual tendency for lever 29 to swing back again in clockwise directionto lower the crossbar 22.

However, as vibration might cause the handle to swing back again as justmentioned, means are included to lock the handle and the operating leverin attained raised position of the cross-bar in order to ensure that thelatter remains thus until a spare is to be removed therefrom. Thus, uponthe outer edges of both arms 32 of yoke 33 arel xed a pair ofoppositely-directed lugs 49, 4I.

i Upon lug 40 is fixed a headed pin 42 upon which is pivotally mounted aswingable latch member 43 having a pin. 44 disposed upon its outer endby which to manipulate the latch member and immediately within thementioned pin 44 is a slot 45, adapted to straddle a corresponding rigidpin iiXed at 46 upon the other lug 4|. When latch member 43 is swungclockwise, as best seen in Figure 3, from the position shown in thatvfigure to that shown in Figure 4, the latch member locks the tongues 3iof lever 29 .within yoke arms 32 and prevents handle 39 from beingraised from the position shown in Figures 1,y 4 and 5. When the ngerpiece 4f!- is seized and latch member 43 swung counter-clockwise aboutits pivot pin 42 into the position shown in Figure 3, it will be.possible to raise handle 39, inasmuch as the latch member then leaveslever 29 clear toV swing out from between the arms 32 of yoke member 33.It is thus evident that when the handle is in its lowest position, andthe lever tongues 3l housed within the outline of yoke arms 32, thelatch member in its locked position engaging the slot 45 thereof uponpin 46 will effectively hold lever 29 in locked condition, preventingthe lever from lowering end 23 of the cross-bar until the latch isdeliberately opened.

Manifestly, variations mayV be resorted to and parts and features may bemodied or used without others. within the scope of the amended claims. Y

Having now fully described my invention, I claim: v

l. A device, comprising a support, a vertically swinging member havingone end pivotally connected with the support and provided at itsVopposite end with a slot which extends through such opposite end, afirst link pivotally connected with the support and including a singlelayer, a lever y including spaced opposed longitudinal sides, the layerbeing arranged between the sides, a pin pivotally connecting the end ofkthe layer with the sides Vat a point adjacent to the longitudinalcenter of the sides, a second link including spaced longitudinal sidesreceiving between them the sides of the lever, pivot means connectingthe ends of the sides of the second link and the ends of the sides ofthe lever, a headed pin secured to the free end of the second link to beremovably inserted within the slot of the swinging member, and a latchpivotally mounted upon one side of the second link and to be shifted toa position in advance of the sides of the lever when the lever is in theclosed position, the lever extending beyond the free end ofthe secondlink when the lever is in the closed position.

2. A device, comprising a relatively stationary member, a second memberto be moved towards the relatively stationary member, a rst link piv- 5otlly connected with the relatively stationary member and including asingle layer, a lever including spaced opposed longitudinal sides, thesingle layer being arranged between the sides a pin piiotally connectingthe end of the single lyei arid the sides near the longitudinal centerof the sides, a second link including spaced longi= tiidit'ial sidsreceiving th lever sides between them, pivot ni'eans connecting the endsof tlfie Sides of the second link and the ends of the lever lo sides,the lever extending longitudinally beyond 15 6 the second link when thelever is in the closed position.

DANA R. BALLARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patenti l UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,334,997 Grenard-2.4- Mar. 30,` 1920 1,382,322 Schleicher June 21, 1921 1,421,573Schaefer July 4, 1922 2,449,544 Ballard sept. 2'1, 194s

